Yellowsnow's Scars
by Vexri
Summary: Young and new to the world, a kit named Yellowkit shall embark on his journey through life. However, his path is not an easy one and most may fall. Through abuse, hardships, death, betrayal, he shall one day prevail, even if it is after he is gone. Sticking close to the ones he can for support, he lives long enough to see the good in life, even if it was only just for a moment.


Yellowsnow found himself running. He didn't know from what, but he fumbled over his paws. Large panting behind him and clicking of claws against the hard ground. Large teeth with drool coming from the jaws. He noticed a flash of silver fur, his pace quickened as the scent of blood, yet, the soft scent of Palerose reached his nostrils, making them flare.

"Palerose!" he screeched, continuing to chase the other feline.

Palerose turned to him, however, something was off. Yellowsnow stopped in his tracks. He saw how Palerose's face was blank. There were no eyes, no mouth, no nose, just the pale, empty face of his brother. He stepped back, despite the panting and clicking coming closer. Where Palerose's eyes should have been, the flesh was disturbed and slowly tore apart at the seams. Chunks of flesh slipping away onto the ground with hot, red blood upon it. Blood began to pour from the sockets, down from the cheeks and dribbling onto the chin, gathering there in a huge drop and falling to the ground into a puddle at his paws. Yellowsnow yelped, soon, the blood began to ease from flowing from the eye-sockets, leaving empty, black holes that were gaping wide. Yellowsnow whimpered lightly. Palerose began to open what should have been his mouth, strands of flesh becoming thinner and tearing apart till there was only a small strand of flesh between what was the mouth and the cool dark canvas behind him. He could just make out large, snagging teeth that was sharper than one of a dog or even a shark that had been told within stories. The point could slice apart thick muscle with just a slight nudge. The tongue was a melted blob, seen between the teeth and was coated with blackened blood that dripped down and somehow seeped through the thick flesh, staining the muzzle. It was like tar at the touch as it flowed to his paws. Soon enough, the bones within his dear brother began elongating. Spikes emerged from his spine and rose up high, black blood flowing down. This whole time, he held a terrifying smile. His skin stretched thin as his bones became longer, the fur separating. Veins and muscles practically were the flesh, only a thin layer remained keeping it from the cold air and small tufts of fur scattered around. His tail was long, and spikes rose from the ends as well. His cheekbones were thin, the smile wide and stretching from the tips of his ears, every single tooth being able to be seen. Large claws that curved far from the ground and the long, sharp tips were what touched the ground, when he moved, loud clicking could be heard, which only made the clicking that was approaching, louder. His breathing was heavy, and he towered over the warrior, Yellowsnow stepped back further, practically tripping over his own paws. His breathing was heavy, and he could feel the hot breath against his flesh, causing it to burn and fade away. Yellowsnow yowled and began to run away, slipping from between the creature's legs. The creature who was no longer his brother, the flesh keeping its mouth from the air snapped and a loud roar escaped its vocal chords. It rang in the air, a pure screech that made Yellowsnow's heart pound and ears ring. He continued to run. However, two other shapes emerged beside the twisted form of Palerose, one of them being a silver tabby like Palerose and the other, a white one. Both much larger than Palerose which seemed impossible. The white one appeared like a twisted version of his very own father. Golden sparks appeared in his empty sockets, same with the taller silver one, which had a much brighter, pale blue spark.

The larger silver one raced forward and pinned down Yellowsnow. Black blood dripped from her muzzle and as well, collected at her muzzle. She raised a claw, a faint shimmer rose up the surface and exploded in a spark of light at the end, only furthering the small warrior's terror, she yowled and turned his head away. Despite his efforts, his gaze was focused on the claws and could not be driven away from it. The world seemed to move in slow motion as the claw descended upon its prey, the tiny warrior that squirmed beneath the grasp of the other, equally large claw. The claws slipped under his flesh so quickly, at first, there was no pain at all, however, when they met his intestines, the pain began to rouse up within him. He yowled in not only pain, but the feeling of suffocation within his insides, making it feel like even blinking was a hard task. His motions within him slowed and jolts like lightning rushed through him from his abdomen up to his ears that made them quiver. The pain increased like a tongue rushing over his frame. He jolted forward to see dripping jaws, urging him to leap into its pitch darkness. He tried to struggle out of the way, but the claws only sunk in deeper which created a yowl from his vocal cords which were struggling to even release such a sound. The tip of the claw teased at his bone and did not hesitate to begin to snap the bone. Eroding the tissue slower than rock being swept away into the stream. It felt like an eternity when finally, the last strand of the end snapped and with such force. The last barrier meeting the ground, his very own flesh, had snapped, the claw moved its way around. Widening the wound and seeking entrance to tear him apart. His flesh seemed to obey as it shriveled away at the touch now, wanting to not seek her pain and suffering. The pain was immense, and his red blood gushed from the wound. It spilled onto the ground beneath him and bubbled up through his insides forcefully.

His body convulsed as blood streamed from his muzzle, his throat not being able to take such pressure building up and needing to be released. There was too much being exported that little could get in. Even what parts of his throat was supposed to take in things were being flooded, inverting its use. The mere pressure of how much was flowing up inverted that. However, it began to ease slightly as that side began to lose what it had, he felt numb, the pain beginning to drift away like clouds. The much smaller, silver one scooped up a pawful of the blood and used its long claws to tear open the jaws that were beginning to close and poured the blood back inside with swift movements. He used his claws to force it down his throat, only tearing the flesh and causing it to spread around his body. He kept one claw deep within his throat to keep it open for the blood to seep into his intestines in what he believed, hopes to keep him alive to keep on suffering through this painful fate. He felt empty despite blood, once again, rushing through him, however, the only movement coming from if he was moved, like still water. Despite this, he was somehow still alive and not yet awaken from this nightmarish hell. His optics were wide open, glazed over and tears rose to his vision, causing blurring sparks of light shimmering as he was beginning to be shoved around, the small monster shoving with more haste, more blood being imported, rather than exported. With a twitch of his tail, the tall, white monster moved over toward what was his mother.

The white monster sunk his teeth into the tail. The tall silver monster flinched as they felt a more minor pain, inflicting the stress of pain onto Yellowsnow. The fiery pain returning to his belly and he remembered the empty patch in his whole body down in his abdomen. The next impalement was with more quickness to release the stress faster. All the while, the tall white monster tore the tail from her. The silver monster yowled and sent three other claws through his chest to release much tension that began to fill her. He screamed at the pain as he felt as if he had dodged a twoleg monster. While it still hurt, it was better that his heart was not damaged, the small, fragile organ was slipped between two claws and the veins snaking through the body was undamaged, for the most part. Blood flowed freely from the wound, Palerose nodded at the demon form of his dearest father who he had loved for so long even in the darkest times of his life. Palerose stepped away and blood began to rush out of his muzzle once more, coughing loudly and trying to turn over, however, unable due to the grip from his mother. Hailwhisker added to the pressure gathering within him, this time, he felt as if he was to explode since it was much more immense, and it had more energy since release. Hailwhisker used what was his mother's crooked tail and tied it around his muzzle. Using the bones to connect it together and a thick knot of fur and bone that was hard to break. The blood was being released from his abdomen, but two were needed and so, it forced another way out.

The flesh broke apart from below his chin and spilled out onto his neck. He relaxed despite pain, the pressure building up from flowing blood aching to be released not through the abdomen since his mother had blocked that exit. The three creatures began to move away, the monster mother was now unaffected by the fact that her tail had been pulled from her body, bone shattered, and just to be used to close their prey's mouth as they dissected it.

Yellowsnow felt limp and empty, yet, he couldn't die. Something pounded inside that kept him moving forward, he hated this, he just wanted to have the tendrils of darkness surround him and let him live in solitude and peace, away from the pain, away from the terror. The tall silver one raised their muzzle and howled. A few weak heartbeats later, many others had arrived.

Yellowsnow glanced around and his pupils shrunk as he saw twisted forms of his former loved ones. The gray and misty blue silver coat of his son, Swiftstar, with oozing black liquid seeping from empty sockets. He had large teeth that slipped from his mouth. Same with his mother and brother who were beside him. Citrustuft's once beautiful, fluffy ginger coat, was now twisted, coated with blood. At his paws were, five small monstrosities were curled up. Loud, twisted scream-like mewls escaped their lungs. They had no eyes at this moment and they had tiny lower jaws. Only held together by a thin layer of flesh and bone and tiny, pin-prick teeth, well, rather the beginning of soon fangs. More rounded and not for tearing things such as flesh or even crushing bone. At this moment, he noticed more teeth on the side of their mouth, much shorter and flatter that the biological males did not possess. The younger ones had few fur, only scraps and exposing dark, rotting, wrinkled flesh, with ripples like water where the blackened blood flowed. The tail was thin like the jaw, the spikes not yet emerging over the surface of the flesh, same with the spine. The most covered areas were the top muzzle, cheeks, and belly. Where it was the palest and little blood could be seen writhing under, trying to be broken through, this area, unfortunately, being where most of the fur was possessed, so that the horrid sight could not be hidden underneath the ragged, twisted fluff. One of the five, had not yet opened their jaws, and it was still connected to their upper jaw, it was silent and nudged Citrustuft, this one had misty-blue and gray fur and was much smaller than the rest, but fewer fur and flesh, so more of the gruesome blood could be seen. The flesh was thinner and practically the whole body was writhing under it, the true being wanting to be free from the vessel. Two of the other four had similar markings to the smallest, while the other two looked more like their father, Citrustuft, who was technically the mother as being biologically a female. He winced at the memory that roused from the depths of his brain as he saw the five kittens. He turned to see Swiftstar's mother, Finchbelly, beside him. She was the tallest besides who the alpha of this savage pack which was Hailwhisker, leading the way. Beside Finchbelly was Grapefruit, a similar coat to Citrustuft, however, much shorter, but still larger than the kits. But then finally, the tallest of them all, began to approach and his pupils shrunk.

He was the most horrific of them all, and with his devilish offspring behind him, well, one of them out of the multiple dozens that he had pumped up many different she-cats with, over ten of them in fact. The much smaller one had a large grin while the father had a dead expression, his glare vile.

"One Kiss… please… don't…" his words could barely escape his damaged lungs and through what was keeping his mouth shut, his very own mother's tail.

One Kiss had turned into a beast, more gruesome than the rest. He had been the reason he had lived, yet also why he had died, same with his son that he was also ashamed to call kin, same with his mother who had wanted that filthy slut One Kiss to fill her with a belly of kits that she would not dare to take care of, too afraid of motherhood. She could see her now, and at that moment, she appeared behind them, the same wild grin and green sparks for eyes. He turned his attention to One Kiss once more, not wanting to keep his gaze fixated upon the horror that was his great-grandmother and her beautiful at sometimes, yet terrifying gaze.

One Kiss who was a beautiful tomcat, that is, when he wasn't in this form. His once pristine coat was coated with grime and dust, turning it to a dull alabaster like his own. The brown and ginger-hinted patches had darkened. The stripes like tendrils and wrapping around him, concealing the white and it appeared to ripple as he breathed. The fur moving with the movement of his flesh, it was thin like the kittens despite his age, he could practically feel the ripples from such a distance. His beautiful, crystal-like eyes had turned into simple sparks, dulled with emotion, or lack thereof. Meanwhile, his son, was a huge contrast. He was mostly of the darker, ginger-brown hues with splashed of white that were dulled as well from grime, slight irritation could be seen with his fidgets toward his chest to remove such, same with One Kiss but Oakbloom's twitches were more violent and rapid. His green eyes were filled with fury at the tom. But what could he have had done, he couldn't control his father. They all grinned with glee, even One Kiss this time joined in. What was left of his torn stomach had dropped, almost literally.

The many demons rushed forward and they all fought for who would have first pickings, he screeched till his vocal cords were cut out by a particularly furious Oakbloom and began to scarf down the organ. He watched in terror as they expanded the whole in what was left of his body. It all felt so numb now, he couldn't resist, even if he could escape, it wouldn't be better, he just hoped for his death soon. He saw his very own son, tear off his hind leg and fit it in his mouth with a single bite and swallowing it. It almost felt unreal seeing his leg being torn from his body, because it was. He knew deep down that this wasn't real, but he couldn't wake up. Suddenly, they broke out into fights just as what was left of him was his eyes, brain, and heart. Below his chest, it had all been torn away, anything remained was torn up. He watched, since it was the only thing he could do. Perhaps he should be happy since the people who had hurt him, in and outside of this dream, were killing each other and leaving him alone. He couldn't help a weak smile, perhaps he would wake up any minute now, but of course, his brain would not allow that. Oakbloom finished off the last one and began to approach Yellowsnow. The others appeared longing for the privilege on what Oakbloom was going to do. He was confused till Oakbloom lifted him up and began to chew on the end of his chest. He teased at the flesh before beginning to scarf him down. The final motion was quick as his heart stopped beating. A tooth lodged within the fragile organ. He somehow screamed, and his eyes widened, an entire new world forming around him.

Well, that wasn't the worst dream he had. That feeling of hope that the dream was finally over filled him for a split second till he realized. That wasn't a dream, rather, a vision. He was awake, and nothing was below him. The scream was still escaping his lungs. Wind rushed passed his coat. He remembered what had happened and he turned his head to see Swiftstar beside him. The two were falling, falling! The ground becoming closer. Oakbloom's smile. The mewling of the kits that he had abandoned. He knew, that this was for the best.

He was going to die, and he accepted it. He closed his eyes, the scream fading, and he sped up, however, he knew the ground was going to hit. And when it did, he was not surprised. A pain rushed up his stomach and splintered bone, like the one of his mother's in his dream. However, it was not as sharp, realizing it was of a stone rather than a razor-sharp claw that was more like talons. With this brief few moments, he could feel true, actual pain rush through him before the world went out like a light.

He awoke with a sudden yelp, his eyes widened with surprise as he glanced around, being set within a pale, moonlit terrain. The grasses brushing up against his alabaster coat. He glanced around, utterly confused. He assumed that he had died... but, where was he? The realization struck him like lightning as soon as he saw a starry shape of a feline begin to approach. One of the felines being a pale ginger she-cat, her warm golden eyes resting upon the feeble white warrior of whom she had trained to where he was now. He glanced around to spot a gray tabby tomcat beside a dark gray tom. Jaypuddle appeared much happier than he was when alive. Both were still wearing the pale rose-colored crowns that they had made for each other on the fateful day when they had become mates.

The pale ginger she-cat approached him and crouched, murmuring comfortingly, "Come on Yellowsnow, it's time to get up, a lot of cats are happy to see you."

He smiled, however, a sense of dread filled up within his chest, he didn't know what he was saying till they spilled out and anxiety made his whole-body quiver, "Where is Swiftstar?"

"I'm right here," a familiar, rough voice appeared behind him, Yellowsnow spun around to spot the gray form of his son, he smiled and rushed over, not hesitating to pull him into an embrace.

Amberbreeze laughed lightly at this interaction, her tail twitching behind her. She pulled Yellowsnow close as well. His eyes were wide, and tears began to slide down his cheeks. He nuzzled into her warm, thin fur as a son would do to his mother on cold leafbare nights in the nursery. Amberbreeze had always been a mother figure more than anything. Her scent was still the same comforting honey-sweet and lavender that could calm even the most uptight, fiercest warrior in the forest. Her mere presence made him forget all that had happened. He eventually pulled away from his former mentor. He glanced around at those who had gathered to join him, some cats he did recognize, some, he did not.

Jaypuddle curled his tail around Hurricane, the two old tomcats joking in the corner of the clearing. Yellowsnow noticed this, however, didn't say a word, but he admired how Hurricane was able to get a smile out of the old grumpy tomcat, Jaypuddle. He approached a gray-tabby tom that had a larger and much more muscular stature than to that of Jaypuddle, however, shared the same coat and harsh, deep blue eyes, that made him wince since it was the same shade as Finchbelly's, Yellowsnow exhaled, "Who are you?"

The tom purred jokingly, "Haven't you heard, I'm Rainstar, leader after and best friend of Birdstar, the very founder of you clan!"

A silver tom approached behind him, his pupils shrunk at the sight since they possessed the same pale coat as his mother and brother, however, he could recognize who this tom was just by the fluffy tail that twitched with impatience. He cuffed back the much larger, gray tomcat's ears despite his small size that made him smaller than Yellowsnow. The silver tom purred as the gray one whined, "We weren't best friends back then, but we are now."

"Birdstar?" he mewed, wanting clarification, was this really his grandfather and founder of his very birth-clan?"

"Correct," he smiled kindly, "welcome to StarClan."

Yellowsnow briefly leaned down to touch noses with him, their ears twitching. He glanced around, this was some reunion, well, more of a welcoming. A Russian blue tomcat approached along with a white she-cat at his side and a blue calico she-cat beside the Russian blue one, many kits frolicking at her paws with a stupid smile and shimmering, bright eyes that showed only innocence and curiosity. He tilted his head, puzzled. Wondering if this was some ancestors of his or a former clanmate before he was born, he approached, "Hello?"

"Ah, hello," the beautiful calico she-cat blinked, her fur was brilliant and sleek and pleasing to the eye, despite her strange markings of Russian-blue, gray, and shades of brown being her base coat, the kits looked up at him with a gleam in their eyes.

The kittens crouched, as he turned away to continue interrogating the she-cat, the kits leaped up onto his back, mewling and playfully growling, nuzzling into his soft, sleek fur. They batted at his soft underbelly, a large, ginger kitten pinned back his ears. With the multiple kittens pouncing on him, he soon found himself overcome. He laughed light-heartedly as the kittens tried their very best to be strong and fierce, clawing him and showing how they were strong warriors to their mother. The Russian-blue tomcat just purred with amusement, "Come on Kokona, get off of him."

"Awh!" the largest kitten mewled, however, the other kittens still batted at his soft underbelly. On further inspection, this cat was rather about one, maybe even two years old, just quite tiny and skinny like himself, however, no bruises or scars hinting at possible abuse like had suffered through.

Yellowsnow pretended to be defeated, he let out a loud sigh, "Oh no! You have caught me!"

The kittens purred and continued to pin him down, one of them nipping playfully on his ear. The mother of these kittens, the brown and blue calico she-cat watched, purring with amusement as her kittens batted at his coat. He shook his head and attempted to stand up, but the kittens being surprisingly strong and keeping him pinned with the sheer amount of them and how they were three moons old, so they were quite large, about half the size of him.

Once the kittens were satisfied, they leaped off of him, Yellowsnow stood up, fluffing out his thin, sleek coat, "Okay, okay, an actual introduction," turning to the three adult felines, "Who are you and how are you with the clan?"

"Well, my name is Rainswept," the Russian blue tomcat pointed at himself with his long tail, eyes closed, chest puffed out, "I am Birdstar's proud father! And this is my mate, Skye, and my kitten, Kokona."

"And what about you?" he tilted his towards the calico she-cat.

"I'm Parsleyleaf, I am Rainswept's sister, and these are my many kits, they are such a pawful, I'm sincerely sorry about them."

"It's fine," he purred, he felt more comfortable within the presence of his ancestors, he knew nothing could harm him up here, and he could finally see the ones he loved once more.

Many cats talked, greeting themselves to him and sharing tongues with their fallen comrade. He was pleaded to meet many of his ancestors and distant relatives. Such unique personalities, backstories. At the end, Birdstar leaped upon a large stone and stood before the felines, a tortoiseshell she-cat beside him as well who he did not recognize. She had an authoritative aura around her, similar to that of Birdstar, as the cats hushed down, a brown tabby tomcat slid beside him, "That's Monarchstar, founder and former leader of MonarchClan."

"Woah…" he murmured, he then turned to the brown tabby tom and whispered, "Who are you?"

"I'm Fallowsky, a warrior of MonarchClan, I was your mother's adoptive father before I died…" he sighed, glancing away.

"My… mother?" his pupils constricted, claws unsheathing and sinking into the soft soil below him.

"Now, now, settle down everyone," the tortoiseshell she-cat commanded, her fur bristling within the breeze.

Even Birdstar appeared uneasy around the she-cat as if she had more power than him and that she could easily strike him down with a simple word. She was strict, however, a soft, gentle shimmer within her brilliant golden eyes calmed down his nerves slightly. Her lengthy tail lashing out behind her, rippling like the wind. Her ears twitched. He blinked as she noticed the unique fluffy white eartips. He flicked a paw over his own for a moment, confused, only his mother and himself possessed that, along with his brother and his own kits.

"Shall we commence the celebratory welcoming ceremony?"

He tilted his head, curious on what they were speaking of, the kits leaped up, bouncing around and quickly rushing behind the highrock to fetch something, Monarchstar laughed, "I'm going to take that as a yes, the kits are quite excited."

He turned to Fallowsky for possible explanation, but he had returned to the crowd. The crowd of felines seemed to move away from him and his son, leaving him within the center. Swiftstar padded forward next to his father, Yellowsnow stood up, tail tucked between his legs. His ears twitched. The few kits scurried behind the highrock, he glanced in the direction and saw them pick a strange flower. It shimmered like their star-speckled coats and unlike his own which still retained its physical, alive look. They gestured to retrieve another and those with free paws yanked up the other flower. The flower had sharp petals and a bright stamen. They placed down one of the flowers in front of each cat and they padded away. Two different cats began to emerge from the crowd, Amberbreeze approaching Yellowsnow meanwhile Birdstar leaped down from the highrock and approached Swiftstar.

Amberbreeze purred lightly and whispered, "Don't worry, all you have to do is put the flower in your fur after this, and it's just for celebration, and don't worry if you get pollen in your fur, you are already a white cat," she joked lightly, such lighthearted words lifted his spirit slightly.

Amberbreeze touched noses with the tomcat, closing his eyes at the touch almost instinctively. Once he opened his eyes once more and pulled back away from Amberbreeze, he noticed how his frame was shifting into that a translucent form, stars began to speckle his coat and shimmered. The wave that was reducing his fur to this was cold and ran up his frame and finally ended at his tail tip, consuming his whole body, like ridding him of his whole body.

He glanced around, Swiftstar as well had also become such, however, not retaining the white fur that Yellowsnow possessed, rather, his misty and blue fur that he had as a living being. He was ridded of all scars, he looked down at his paws and legs, noticing that there was nothing as well, he frowned as he saw that he still retained his scars. He looked up at Amberbreeze, a quizzical look in his eyes, Amberbreeze quickly explained, "Your spirit represents the last time you truly felt happy and alive, you were happy for a while after you had escaped, but scars just show how much you've endured and you should be proud."

He muttered resentfully, "Yeah…"

"Now, didn't you say I had to put the flower in my fur?"

"Yep, like this," she scooped up the translucent flower that now shined like him, she tucked it behind his ear, he winced, similar to that of Palerose with his favorite rose, he remembered how he still had it, but it had been given to Citrustuft, he wondered how his son was doing.

His mind was already wandering, but he was brought back to reality when Birdstar beckoned, "Welcome Yellowsnow and Swiftstar, now, shall we all celebrate?"

"Is this going to be like one of the cheesy celebrations I've endured my entire life in BirdClan?"

Birdstar glanced nervously at Monarchstar who was trying to hold back her laughter, Birdstar nodded before cracking a smile himself, breaking into laughter. Oh no, not another one of these, he hated being showered in attention, but Swiftstar wouldn't hate it so he would have to endure it. He stuck close by Fallowsky, trying to seek more information out of him, however, he refused and continued to speak with Monarchstar who was enjoying some love and attention from him and Birdstar.

"Hey, is there some prey to snack on?" he blinked, turning to Jaypuddle.

"There ain't, sorry kid, we only hunt if we wanna, but we didn't gather any, would've did so if ya said you wanted some, of course you were still alive and not up here with us," his tail twitched, purring "you can hunt but yer gonna have to search far from here, too much noise from my old ears and certainly for the prey, not to mention, missing this grand ol' party!"

"Oh…" he murmured, at least that was one less thing he could do, the only other option was playing with the younger ones, a lump filled his throat and he winced.

Thank goodness they seemed to be more tamed than some of the other kittens he had encountered in his life, he supposed that they grow up mentally rather than physically now. They were tossing a ball between each other, moss littering their muzzles that protruded from their faces, flattened due to their young age. They purred loudly, tiny squeaks erupted from their throats, they were not distracting the older felines who seemed to find more enjoyment in the more tactical and difficult games. He wasn't the most physically fit, so he approached the kittens. They seemed delighted to have an older feline come and join them.

"Hey, hey! Wanna play mossball with us?" a white and brown kitten squeaked.

"Quiet Snipkit!" a white and silver kitten frowned, glaring at the white and brown kitten.

"As if you're any better Quillkit," he giggled.

"You take that back!"

A dark ginger kitten exhaled an exasperated sigh, "Come on you two, lets just settle this out in a relaxed and civilized way."

"You're no fun Twitchkit!"

"Perhaps so," he purred, blinking away dewdrops that had gathered upon his long lashes, "But at least I survived the longest and I get to spend time with dad."

"Stop bragging about that," Fidgetkit sighed.

"Anyways…" Yellowsnow laughed hoarsely, "Can I play with you."

"Sure!" Snipkit purred, his eyes shining with delight.

Yellowsnow crouched, his tail tucked between his legs, a paw poised above the ground and his pupils constricted into slits as his gaze settled upon the clump of moss. The kits were fidgeting around, squirming like ripples over once relaxed water. His ears twitched as he awaited, once they stopped arguing amongst themselves, they turned to him, a determined glint within their starry eyes. His muscles tensed as he saw a kit bring out the clump of sodden moss. Who appeared to be the strongest of the kits was Twitchkit, broad shoulders and plumped frame, approached the moss ball, they unsheathed their claws and pulled back their paw.

With a powerful strike and the clash of claws, the moss ball went spiraling over towards him, he crouched and raised a paw, striking it down and it went rolling onto the ground. The kits were quick to retrieve it, reflecting it back, spiraling towards the white tom, by using their heads, literally. He quickly shot back the ball with his tail which was broad compared to the moss ball and was as thick as it, making it easy to catch it within the fur and to flick it back. They kits yelped as they tripped over their paws trying to retrieve it, but a dull gray-sandy kit that was hiding in the back, leaped forward and skyrocketed the moss ball back over, she had surprising strength. Yellowsnow didn't find it hard to return it back, but it surprised him. He had to admit, this was the most interesting game of mossball he has ever played.

Purring with delight, he tossed back the ball back. Just as one of the kits was about to toss it back, the moss ball was struck towards the ground, it rolled slightly. The kits let out disappointed mewls, so did Yellowsnow, however, when looking up, he noticed Amberbreeze smiling warmly.

"What now? I was playing," his ears twitched.

"Don't get snappy with me boy, just because you're dead, doesn't mean I was your mentor," despite her anger, the underlying joy and amusement was clearly seen if you knew the she-cat.

"Fine, fine," Yellowsnow sighed.

"Now," she prompted, her tail twitching, "We have something to show you."

"We?"

"Correct," Birdstar mewed, emerging from behind her, along with Swiftstar who's eyes were shining with joy and excitement, and Monarchstar.

"What do you have to show me?" he blinked, he tilted his head as he glanced back at the kits, "Go back to playing, I'll be gone for a bit, don't worry, I'll play with you again soon."

"Alright!" Snipkit purred before Twitchkit herded them all away to another corner of the party, ushering the older cats out which was a surprise considering that they were merely kittens.

He turned to the four cats, blinking in confusion, Monarchstar dipped her head, "Follow us."

He obeyed, his head lowered to the ground as they slipped away from the congregation of many cats. The vegetation brushed up against his silky star-speckled coat. His ears twitched, and the air became more humid, making it difficult to breath in with the heat radiating from his fellow feline's bodies. He winced slightly, as they approached, he noticed how the territory began to lose its gentle glow of starry light as they entered the realm of the living once more. They began to speed up and Monarchstar and Birdstar leaped into the air and began to hover, appearing as if they were swimming through the sky, Yellowsnow blinked in surprise, Birdstar paused to wait for them.

Yellowsnow crouched and leaped into the air, at first, he began to fall again but he raised his paw, doing a motion similar to that of leaping despite him being off the ground and felt himself hover off of the ground, a gasp of surprise escaped his lungs. Birdstar purred with amusement, "Come this way."

Yellowsnow obeyed, he noticed Swiftstar getting the hang of it sooner than he was, racing ahead and stood beside Birdstar, chattering softly with excitement, however, he could not pick up the words that they were speaking due to his distance. They zipped through the trees, avoiding the thick trunks and thorn tickets. He noticed the familiar territory of his old home and his eyes widened. Just as he assumed that they were heading towards BirdClan camp, they veered from their path and began to head for the river. He winced at the memory that it brought with it, the screams of Palerose as his very own mother jerked his head into the water, pinning him down and aggressively forcing the air out of his fragile lungs. However, he pushed back the memory like a lump in his throat as they padded over the water, he noticed how ripples emerged from where they stepped. This puzzled him however he continued forth. They began to race through unfamiliar territory, MonarchClan territory. Lavender and milkweed stalks, butterflies taking their place at the pistils of the flower, wings flapping gently, the coarse soil beneath his paws when he did step on the ground by mistake, the mostly open fields with beautiful vegetation. The bright sun lied overhead, illuminating the dawn, still covered by trees. He noticed an empty twoleg home not far from this section of the territory that seemed to be too neat and beautiful for regular territory. They began to head towards the home. The shattered windows, moss and ivy growing off of the cobblestone and wood planks, eased his anxiety. It had been long since twoleg use. The doorframe had been damaged, leaving the door cracked open incessantly. The inside was a pitch black which gave him some anxiety, however, once entered, their light radiating off of their starry bodies provided some light, however, this was only seen by themselves. The cats were left in the darkness. He could notice the sleeping frames moving up and down with the rhythm of their breaths as they slept. There appeared to be no dens, cats finding anywhere they could to sleep, however, this was for the older cats. Monarchstar gazed out at a brown she-cat who was Nettlestar, her daughter, who slept under a staircase, her 'den' protected by scraps of fabric that they had torn from the windows called curtains that some of the kittypets he had encountered called. There were no moss nests, rather, cats would sleep without them which appeared quite uncomfortable, or on other types of bed like similar things to curtains, but more fluffy and thick, it held more warmth. They began to pad up the staircase. Yellowsnow paused as a ray of light entered the den. The beam of golden light aroused a few warriors, as they were used to darkness, even the smallest amount of light would rouse them from their slumber, which was good for getting up early for dawn patrols. A dark gray tabby tom yawned and began to pad around the camp, nudging a few other cats awake, perhaps this was the deputy of the clan? Such routine was so foreign to the tomcat.

"Come on Yellowsnow," Monarchstar chided.

"Sorry…" he whispered.

"No need to whisper," she purred, "they cannot hear us."

"Oh," he spoke a tad bit louder at this news.

He continued to follow them up the staircase, soon enough, the milky scent of queen's milk struck his nostrils, it was all so familiar and reminded me of his kits, a small smile appeared on his muzzle. Although, he wondered, why were they heading up to the nursery of MonarchClan? The den was empty except for a single she-cat and a tom curled up in a corner. The tomcat being a bright white tom, a much more beautiful shade than himself, and a mottled warm gray tabby she-cat with three kittens curled at her belly. His eyes illuminated, was this one of Thriftshade's kits? They looked exactly like her but with mottled markings. Tall ears, fluffed out chest. And when her eyes began to open, the same green color. She nudged awake the tomcat who was a tad bit annoyed by being awoken, but once the she-cat began grooming him, he relaxed once more, she purred, "Wake up sleepyhead, you are going for the dawn patrol and you don't want Brokenthunder to throw a hissy fit, now would you?"

"Yeah, yeah," he purred with amusement, "I'm not gonna lose an ear to him."

"Good, don't forget to say goodbye to our kits."

"Alright, alright," he rasped over all three kits, giving them a light grooming before touching noses with his mate and leaving.

She sighed, resting her head back on her paws, watching the tomcat leave and then resting her head back on her paws.

Only then did Monarchstar approach her, sitting down beside her and smiling back at Yellowsnow, Swiftstar bounded beside her and sat down, same with Birdstar, they were all gathered around the kits, he approached slowly, blinking in confusion. Monarchstar brushed her tail tip over a white kitten, they squirmed at her ghostly touch.

"Yellowsnow, you have been gifted an extra chance at life, you were unfairly treated by everyone that you knew, you deserve a better life, we have granted you such, you will live again through this kit, may you meet Yellowkit" she smiled lightly.

Yellowsnow's eyes widened, he couldn't believe what he was seeing, he was going to live again? After all this strife, all this suffering that he had endured. He crouched, looking down at the kitten and smiled to himself. Tears began to swell up in his eyelids and streaming down his face, a tear landed on the kitten's face, they mewled however settled down as it faded away. He didn't know what to feel. Swiftstar curled his tail around him and murmured, "You can finally be happy."

Once his sobs eased, he looked down at the tiny white kitten, a determined glint within his dull golden eyes, "I will make this count, I promise."

All the torment, all his scars, all the abuse, would fade away in his new life, replaced by the joy of average life. There would still be death and hardships, but he knew he would have others to help him through, eager with this new opportunity. He wanted better despite how selfish that sounded. He was so tired, tired of all that had happened. The kitten yawned, curling up closer to one of their siblings, so innocent, so strong, they just didn't know it yet. He closed his eyes, reflecting to himself on his life, remembering the strife, the struggle, the pain, his claws unsheathing slightly at this thought, however, it was something he couldn't change, and strangely, he was glad he went through it. He opened his eyes and nodded at Birdstar and Monarchstar, nuzzling Swiftstar one last time, turning towards the kit.

"I promise you will be great Yellowkit," he murmured, "better than I ever was."


End file.
